Friday, January 31, 2014

Mary is Released From the Hospital


Mary (I) was released from the Valley Baptist Hospital in Harlingen today. Unfortunately, it could have gone smoother. When we went to check out we found out that I wasn't going home with a walker because the Social Worker said I told her that I didn't need one. The nurse told me we could wait and they could manage to get me one in about three hours as that is how long the paper work would take. I told her that I wasn't going to wait for three hours and that I wanted to file a formal complaint against the Social Worker. The nurse got flustered and instead of letting me file the compliant, she went and got the Social Worker. Actually, both Social Workers came in.

I (Mary) was quite upset when I saw the Social Worker and told her that I didn't want to talk to her. She had been rude and uncooperative the last time and at that time she led me to believe that I had a walker and now I was not only not going to be able to go straight to a rehab facility but I also wasn't going to have a walker to use to even get to the car. I can understand some glitches and things going wrong but I can hardly tolerate people who are just rude and uncooperative. This social worker is the type that treats the elderly like they are not able to understand anything. It must give her some satisfaction to have someone she can kick around. I wanted to file the complaint so maybe other elderly people would not have to put up with her.

At any rate, she was just bending over backwards telling me she would resolve the situation. She had a whole room full of people to perform for. She finally said she would get me a walker out of the hospital stock. The nurse told her she couldn't do that but that is exactly what she did. And, we were able to leave the hospital shortly thereafter.

Lee took me home in Rose and Mark Williams' mini van. Rose offered it to us before I went in and we decided to take her up on it. It did make getting home a lot easier. I still had to climb the steps into the fifth wheel but I managed them all right. It was so good of them to let us use their mini van and we really appreciated it.

It was kind of a rough first night home mainly because of the small bathroom and the high bed that is hard to navigate. I choose the wrong side of the bed 34 years ago when we got married and now we are so set in our ways, it is hard to change. So now I have to sleep next to the mirrored closet doors which means I have to traverse a step and then a maybe one foot path along the side of the bed. The bathroom was worse though because I had to walk in sideways and then I couldn't bend my knee enough to sit on the stool. We did borrow a high rise seat for the toilet from Cathy's Closet here at Winter Ranch. We thought that might help. It made it easier to sit because it was higher but then I couldn't reach the floor with my feet and I still couldn't bend the leg far enough to be comfortable.

Fifth wheels just are not made for rehabilitation after surgery. So, we decided by the end of the night that we would try to get me into a rehab facility by contacting Dr. Basset's office and letting them know what happened.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Mary Has Knee Replacement Surgery Today


Today we thought we managed to get out of bed in plenty of time to make it to the Valley Baptist Hospital in Harlingen, however, Lee forgot that we needed to fill the fuel tanks so that made us late. We couldn't find a parking place and so he finally just dropped me off and I went in not really knowing where I was going. I managed to find my way to the right area and then had to wonder if Lee would find me!

He eventually did and by then I was already getting prepped for surgery. They decided to make me first, wouldn't you know! Dr. Bassett and the anesthesiologist both came in to see me and explained what was going to happen. I was given a spinal block and a sedative so that I would sleep. It worked. I slept and slept and slept. I am highly susceptible to post surgery memory lapse. I may seem like I am awake but, in reality, I don't remember a thing for several hours. I just drift in and out of consciousness.

I told Lee to go home several times during the afternoon and he finally took me up on it around 6:30 PM. I finally woke up at 8:30 PM and thought I had just returned from surgery and wondered where he went. Naturally, during this time the Social Worker arrived and talked to me about what I wanted to do upon my return home - did I want home health care or did I want to go to a rehab facility. It didn't go well, to say the least.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Ol' D's Soda Shop

We headed out on one of the outings on the bus today to Ol'D's Soda Shop.  We've been there several times and it is always a good time.



Our bus driver, Jack, has a new roulette game.  You put a quarter in the pot and he has put a line on the body of the bus at the top of the wheel (12:00 position) and numbers around the wheel of the bus.  When he stops the bus and we get out, the person who picked that spot on the wheel, gets the pot.  Of course, we didn't win!


Maggie, Melva and Lee
Richard, Donna, Miriam and Al


They started the buffet line and the Winter Ranchers were right there!  Lee and I ordered off the menu so we missed the huge line.  It did go pretty fast though.

Lee with his hamburger.


Dave singing to some of our Winter Ranchers
He has a really small dance floor but it is well used!
Ginni and John 
Our Managers, Cathy and Larry.  We don't catch 
them dancing too often!
Our Office Staff are all out there having fun!
Dave on Stage
Al and Miriam
Al and Miriam
That's Us - Miriam took the picture!
Sue and Lynn
Richard and Donna
Miriam and Al
Donna and Jack
Lynn and JD
Nora and Charlie
Ginni and John
Y - M - C - A

Cathy and Larry
Back to the Bus After a Fun Evening!

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Card Making Class


One of the things I've been able to do while we are at Winter Ranch is to take advantage of the of the classes. I love making cards and so I've signed up for several of the card making classes. I have tons of my own stuff in the camper but with the classes, I really don't need to dig anything out. The instructor provides everything which is very handy.



Some of our completed cards!

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Trailer Trash Party at Winter Ranch

I talked our Activity Directors into letting the Dance Group and the Karaoke Group host a Trailer Trash Party. It was a hoot. We had a lot of fun activities and everyone really seemed to get into the spirit of the thing. Even though we were sort of hosting the thing, we had a great time.

 Donna and Richard setting out their treats

 
 Lee and Donna had to see if they could dance!  I think Lee has a bigger belly than Donna!

 Mary, Nora and Lynn - aren't we cute!!
 Lee and Mary (us) at the Photo Opp Booth
 Al and Miriam
 Donna and Richard
 Sandy and Chuck
 Lee with Jo and Shirley
Donna and Dave with child 
 Lee and Mary H
 The Westbys and the Minors

 The Carmacks and the Sommers
 The Kings and the Anzivinos
 The Orndorffs and the Murrays
 Jack and Char
 Terri and Dave
 A Big Bunch of Trailer Trash

 Bob and Kathy comparing stomachs
 Boy, we have a lot of pregnant women for a 55+ resort!



We have a costume contest for Trailer Trash King and Queen and a new couple at the park, the Senklers, won the prize for that. They did look the part! 


The Senklers
The Prince of Trailer Trash was Jack Leach 

 Jack

and the Princess was Darlene Peters. She took a new twist on the Trailer Trash look by dressing as White trash. She was all in white garbage. 

 Darlene

If I were to select the Princess I probably would have said that Mary Hazlett deserved the prize for trashiest. She was smoking some kind of brown cigar and the outfit was pretty trashy!!




 Mary and Mary

                                            Judging Mary

We had a Twinkie Eating Contest and that was soooo funny. Dianna Drake won the prize but boy did she cheat. It was hysterical. She was putting stuff down her pants, her bra, the back of her shirt and throwing remains back at the other contestants. What a hoot.


 Twinkie Contestants
 Donna trying to control the mayhem!


Dianna telling everyone she won - well, she did but boy, did she cheat!!!
                               Dianna with her Certificate

We also had some entertainment and if I had it to do over again, we'd bring the entertainment closer to the tables. I thought that was what we decided to do but somehow they ended up on stage and the audience couldn't hear them very well. We'll have to try those songs again one of these days.


 Carol
 Carole and Mike
 Dale and Carolyn
 Kathy


The final activity of the day was the Beer Can Toss which was held out by the pool. People were inside cleaning up while we were outside doing the contest. 

 John
 JoAnn getting reacy to toss one



The party was a fantastic success and we've heard they want to do it again next year. We think we should do some kind of theme party every year but change it around a little so we don't get complacent and attendance goes down! We'll see what we can work out with our Activity Directors.

The Appetizers: I think everyone captured the spirit of the thing. Some of these appetizers made me a little squeamish!!


 I made the above Twinkie Tower!






 Twinkies wrapped in bologna - I don't know!!
 Gummy Worms were a part of this treat!
 Kathy holding up a treat that has a worm in it!
 Lots of funky treats!

Donna and Richard, Al and Miriam and Mary and Lee